Drought: TN seeks Rs 19,665 cr assistance from Centre

The drought-hit TN decided to knock the Centre`s doors with a plea for an assistance of Rs 19,665.13 crore as the Jayalalithaa government extended a relief package given to Cauvery delta regions to other affected districts also.

Chennai: The drought-hit Tamil Nadu on Friday decided to knock the Centre`s doors with a plea for an assistance of Rs 19,665.13 crore as the Jayalalithaa government extended a relief package given to Cauvery delta regions to other affected districts also.

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said a draft memorandum would be sent immediately with various components, including a compensation of Rs 9,286.20 crore towards damage suffered by the agriculture sector and losses by TANGEDCO (Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation) to the tune of Rs 2661.32 crore.

Her government`s demand for relief in view of various assistance given in the context of drought included Rs 2,424.47 crore towards employment guarantee programme, over Rs 1,100 crore for drinking water projects and Rs 247 crore for cattle.

The deficient southwest and northeast monsoons, besides the Cauvery dispute had resulted in drought in 32 of the 31 states with Chennai being the lone exception, Jayalalithaa said.

The affected states had already been declared drought hit and various sops including land tax waiver had been announced by the government.

State Finance Minister O Panneerselvam-led high level panel, formed to assess drought situation, had submitted its report after touring non-Cauvery Delta districts, she said while rolling out her relief package of Rs 1,754.86 crore for these regions.

The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs 5,000 per acre for farmers, who had suffered a loss of of over 50 per cent in yield. A total of over 6.25 lakh farmers will benefitted by these relief programme.

Similarly, farmers without irrigation facility for their land and who had suffered loss of over 50 per cent will be compensated Rs 3,000 per acre.

Among other drought-relief measures, she announced compensation for coconut farmers and taking up various works under MGNREGA.